American Indian Confederate Heritage

Confederate Battle flag of the Cherokee Nation

A Survey of Traditional Native Americans in Confederate Ranks

The following are Native American Confederate soldiers, derived
from records of the National Archives. This listing is to give the reader
a better understanding of the ethnic variance within the southern
ranks. It is far from being a complete listing of Native American Confederates.
Most of the soldiers below had only one traditional Indian name, instead
of a Christian/Anglo first and last names. Many others not
listed had taken on Christian first names and kept their traditional Indian
name as a last names.

Battle Flag of the Choctaw Brigade, CSA

(Note: the remark "No First Name" should be ignored, it is not part of
the soldier's name.)

"A Guide to Cherokee Confederate Military Units, 1861 -
1865"

by Lars Gjertveit

By the spring of 1861, Stand Watie (1806-1871), the leader of the
southern faction of the Cherokee Nation, was a prosperous attorney and
speaker of the nation’s National Council (the lower house of the Cherokee
legislature). He owned a plantation and mill at Honey Creek in the Illinois
District of the Cherokee Nation.

Company A. Buzzard, KIA 20 May 63 n. Fort Gibson.
Company B. Robert Calvin Parks, to Lt Col after reorganization.
Company C. Daniel H Coody
Company D. James Madison Bell, to Lt Col of the 2nd Regiment 3 Feb
63.
Company E. Joseph Franklin Thompson (prev in the Arkansas State
service) to Major after reorganization.
Company F. Joseph F Smallwood
Company G. George H Starr
Company H. John Thompson Mayes
Company I. George W Johnson
Company K. James H Thompson. This company became Co H, Clarkson’s
Battalion, Independent Rangers 14 July 62. This Bn was broken up in Nov
62, 5 cos merged into Clark’s Missouri Infantry Regiment.
Company L (aka J). Bluford West Alberty.

In addition, Thomas J Parks was designated to lead Company M, but
this does not appear to have materialized.

ORGANIZATION. On July 12, 1861, Stand Watie received a commission
from Brig Gen Benjamin McCulloch to raise a regiment. At a mass meeting
of the southern symphatizers among the Five Civilized tribes held at Old
Fort Wayne, Delaware District, in the Cherokee Nation, on July 27, 1861,
organization of the First Cherokee Regiment began. After the twelve-month
enlistment time expired, the regiment was reorganized around 12 July 1862
at Spavinaw Creek, Tahlequah District, for 2 years, with mostly new officers
and many new men. Note that the companies were not reorganized separately,
rather a set of new companies were formed and new officers elected, although
the majority of the men continued in service from the first organization.

ORGANIZATION. Company A was mustered in 12 May 62 in Maysville, Ark.
Companies B to K, plus Acridge’s, Alberty’s, Brewer’s, and Patton’s are
all on record as having enlisted 12 July 1862 at Spavinaw Creek, Tahlequah
District, Cherokee Nation. On September 1, 1862, another company - John
Vann’s - was added, made up mostly of loyal men from Drew’s late regiment.
The five unnumbered companies were on February 3, 1863, merged with Bryan’s
1st Battalion, Cherokee Partisan Rangers to form the 2nd (Adair’s) Cherokee
Mounted Volunteers.

Drew’s Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles(1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles)

COLONEL. John Drew.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL. Willam Potter Ross, later sutler for 3rd Indian
Home Guards.
MAJOR. Thomas Pegg, later Capt, Co A, 2d Indian Home Guards.

ORGANIZATION. At a mass meeting at Tahlequah 21 August 1861, the
Cherokees decided to seek alliance with the Confederate States, and also
to raise a mounted regiment. Each of the nine districts of the Cherokee
Nation raised one company, except Tahlequah, which furnished three. By
October 7, the day the treaty between the Cherokee Nation and the Confederacy
was signed, the regiment was almost completed. At Fort Gibson, on November
5, 1861 the regiment was officially mustered in for a period of twelve
months, with 1214 men on the rolls.

Drew’s regiment, composed mostly of full-blood Cherokees («Pins»)
hostile to Stand Watie and his followers, never identified with the Southern
cause. During the pursuit of the Creek dissident Opothleyahola in December
1861, officers and men refused to fight, deserted in large numbers, and
many even joined the enemy. A reorganization of the regiment was attempted,
and about 500 of its men fought at Pea Ridge the first day (March 7, 1862),
where they scalped some Federal soldiers. A Union invasion of the Cherokee
Nation in July 1862 resulted in the mass surrender of most of Drew’s men,
and their subsequent enlistment in the Federal 2nd and 3rd Indian Home
Guard Regiments. A few officers and men (notably Colonel Drew, Captains
John Porum Davis, Pickens M Benge, Richard Fields, and Lieutenant Charles
Drew) remained loyal to the Confederacy and later served under Stand Watie.
Captain John Vann’s company of Watie’s 1st Regiment, later Co I of the
2nd Regiment (formed 1 Sep 62), was composed mostly of loyal Confederates
from the ranks of Drew’s late regiment.

ORGANIZATION. Joel M Bryan was authorized by Brig Gen Albert Pike
to raise 100 men or more as partisan rangers during the summer of 1862.
The company (A) was mustered in at Fort Davis, Canadian District, Cherokee
Nation, July 20, 1862. Bryan proceeded to recruit another four companies,
and was ordered by Maj Gen Thomas C Hindman to organize the force into
a battalion, which was done September 13, 1862. Records indicate that the
enlistment term was three years.

By order of Brig Gen Douglas H Cooper, the battalion was on February
3, 1863, consolidated with 5 companies attached to Watie’s 1st Cherokee
Mounted Volunteers to form the 2nd (Adair’s) Cherokee Mounted Volunteers

ORGANIZATION. This company was mustered in at Webber’s Falls, Canadian
District, Cherokee Nation, 12 December 62, for two years. The last record
of the company is dated June 30, 1863, it may have been assigned to the
2nd Regiment as Company L after that date.

ORGANIZATION. On April 1, 1863, Col Watie was authorized to raise
a Cherokee brigade. After the 2nd Regiment had been formed, steps were
taken to enlist another unit. The first company (A) was probably organized
on 3 June 63, but details about the other companies are missing. Consisted
of 4 companies by December 1863. The battalion was apparently broken up
and consolidated with the 1st and 2nd Regiments about 12 July 64.

A general reorganization of the Cherokee forces took place on Limestone
Prairie, Choctaw Nation, after Watie had been promoted Brigadier General
and the Cherokees on June 27, 1864, had declared their unanimous reenlistment
for the war. On July 11, the Cherokee National Council passed a conscription
act, which required that all able bodied free citizens between 17-45 report
for duty before August 1.

Cherokee Battalion (or Regiment), Special Service
(Bryan’s Battalion)

LIEUTENANT COLONEL. Joel M Bryan (prev Major, 1st Partisan Ranger Bn)

Companies and their commanders

Company ?. John Miller (prev Capt, Co A, 2nd Regt)
Company ?. Owens.

ORGANIZATION. Not much is known about this organization, which is
mentioned in Brig Gen Douglas H Cooper’s correspondence in March and May
of 1865 and in a Federal report dated 23 Apr 65, then supposed to be at
Fort Towson (in the southern Choctaw Nation), 300 strong. Joel M Bryan,
who previously led the 1st Partisan Ranger Bn, was the commander. Captain
John Miller led a company, and a Captain Owens another.

COLONEL. William Holland Thomas, Col of Thomas’ NC Infantry Regt
27 Sep 1862, which was a month later increased to a Legion. Relinquished
field command of the Legion about 1 Sep 63 (officially in command until
March 1865), except the Cherokee Battalion, which he personally commanded
until war’s end.

ORGANIZATION. The nucleus of the battalion was the «Junaluska
Zuaves», a North Carolina militia company of Cherokees organized
in Quallatown in May 1861 by William H Thomas. Company A was mustered into
CS service April 9, 1862, at Quallatown. Company B was organized in Knoxville,
Tn, on May 18, 1862, by a division of the overstrength Co A. In July 1862,
these two companies formed part of Thomas’ Infantry Battalion. The battalion
was increased and reorganized as Thomas’ NC Infantry Regiment on September
27, 1862, in Knoxville. The Cherokee companies then became Cos C and D,
respectively. In October, another battalion (Walker’s) was added to Thomas’
command, which thereafter became known as Thomas’ Legion of Indians and
Highlanders. In January 1863, the two Cherokee companies reverted back
to their previous designations as Co A and B of the Infantry Regiment (Love’s),
Thomas’ Legion. The Cherokee companies were detached from the regiment
in September 1863, and from then on served as a separate battalion under
Thomas’ direct command (who at that point relinquished field command of
the Legion). Company C was added in Quallatown in December 1863, and Company
D organized in the summer of 1864. Not until April 9, 1865, however, was
the Cherokee Battalion officially mustered as a separate unit of Thomas’
Legion. At that time the battalion reportedly totalled about 300 men.

Wilfred Knight, Jr Red Fox: Stand Watie’s Civil War Years in Indian
Territory
Annie H Abel The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist
Annie H Abel The American Indian in the Civil War 1862-1865
Annie H Abel The American Indian and the End of the Confederacy
1863-1866
Larry C Rampp & Donald L Rampp The Civil War in Indian Territory
Carolyn M Bartels Stand Watie and the First Cherokee Regiment 1861-1865
Edward E Dale & Gaston Litton (eds) Cherokee Cavaliers: Forty
Years of Cherokee History as Told in the Correspondence of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot
Family
Mabel W Anderson Life of General Stand Watie
W Craig Gaines The Confederate Cherokees: John Drew’s Regiment of
Mounted Rifles
Stewart Sifakis Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, the Confederate Units, and the Indian Units
National Archives Microfilm M861 Compiled Records Showing Service
of Military Units in Confederate Organizations Roll 74 - Organizations
raised directly by the Confederate Government (regular infantry, Indian
units, engineer troops, etc)
Marybelle W Chase Index to Civil War Service Records: Watie’s Cherokee
Regiments
Vernon H Crow Storm in the Mountains: Thomas’ Confederate Legion
of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
Confederate Veteran